Avalanche Offer Awesome Gesture To Former Player During Stanley Cup Banner Ceremony

Getty Image

On Wednesday night, the Colorado Avalanche officially kicked off their quest to repeat as Stanley Cup champions when they kicked off their season at home against the Blackhawks.

Earlier this week, members of the team were presented with some blinged-out rings encased in a box containing an incredible surprise, and they got one last chance to celebrate bringing Lord Stanley’s trophy back to Colorado for the first time since 2001 when a banner commemorating their achievement was raised into the rafters inside Ball Arena ahead of their contest against Chicago.

The fact that the Avalanche were able to retain most of their core players played a role in the team heading into the season as favorites to hoist the Stanley Cup yet again. However, they did lose a few members to free agency—including defenseman Jack Johnson, who found himself sitting on the visiting bench in the venue he called home last season after signing a one-year deal with the Blackhawks.

However, he still got the opportunity to soak in the moment with his former squad.

The Avalanche pulled a classy move by inviting Jack Johnson onto the ice for the Stanley Cup banner raising

Barring one of the most improbable twists of fate in hockey history, the Blackhawks will not be contenders this year after opting to go into Full Rebuild Mode; ESPN has them listed in the basement of its preseason power rankings, and while you’ll get one hell of a return on your investment if they defy the 20,000-1 odds and win it all, you’re probably not going to want to bet the house on it.

As a result, Johnson probably won’t have the most enjoyable season of his career. With that said, he’ll have at least one great memory after he got the chance to reunite with his former squad on the ice to watch the Stanley Cup banner get raised.

You love to see it.